September 29, 2013

September 29, 2013 

Last night we took a shuttle bus to the base of Stone Mountain. Here Georgians have carved, ala Mt Rushmore, the likenesses of their three Civil War heroes, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The carving was started before Rushmore but because of financial problems not completed until 1972.

We went to see the laser show projected on the sculpture side of the mountain. It was excellent and included fireworks and music to add impact. The lawn seating was packed with thousands of families enjoying the show. It was a very festive atmosphere.

This morning we hiked to the top of Stone Mountain. While most of the mountainside is almost vertical, the west side is a gentler upward slope. The one-mile path is very pleasant. We make it up and down in an hour. We were surprised to see how much company we had. Compared to other cities, Atlantans are definitely active outdoorsy people.

After completing our morning exercise, we head south to Macon and the site of Ocmulgee National Monument. Ocmulgee is another Indian archeology site. This location has had evidence of habitation here for 10,000 years. The most impressive artifacts are from the Mississippian Culture of 1000 years ago, the same time period of Cahokia. The Mississippians built large flat-topped dirt mounds and had a hierarchical society. The museum implied this culture moved in and dominated the previous residents. They must have. How else could you convince people to move millions of basket loads of dirt. This site also has several large earthen lodges. One was reconstructed during the Depression years. It has clay-molded seats for the leaders.

On the way out of town, we stop briefly to see Fort Hawkins. This fort was built in 1806 when the Ocmulgee River became the new frontier with the Creek Indians.

From Macon we drove west to spend the night in Warm Springs, GA. While watching the news Aimee heard the government was going to run out of money and close all the National Parks. She is giddy in the hope we will have to head home.